How You Can Make Real Money in the Restaurant Industry

Posted on 10/12/2025, 3:40:51 PM

There are loads of different opportunities in the hospitality and food service industry, including running a restaurant. You can join a restaurant franchise and build up customers that way, banking on a larger system to help your business grow and succeed, or you might have a dream of your own. 

However, the restaurant industry is also very packed, meaning there’s a lot of competition and a lot of room for failure. So, here’s a quick guide to help you make real money while running a restaurant.

Licenses and Certifications

First, it’s important to be on the right side of the law. If you open a business without registering it and ensuring it’s signed up for taxes, you risk losing the business and potentially needing to pay a fine or other penalties.

As well as having to register your business with the local authorities, you need to ensure that you have the correct licenses for your company. Depending on the type of food service business you run, you may need different licenses.

If you’re making and selling food, you will need to have a license to do so, and your premises will have to be checked for a hygiene certificate. You might also need licenses to sell and serve alcohol, or even to play specific music. So do your research before you start selling.

Financing Your Business

While there are some businesses that you can start with limited funds, you will need to put some money into a restaurant from the get-go. There are a few ways to do this.

First, you can use your own cash and essentially invest in your own business. This is a great way to get started because you still have all of the equity and no debt, but it can be hard to raise the money you need.

Another option is to look for third-party loans and investors. In this case, you will need a business plan to prove that you’ll be able to pay back any loans or provide a profit for shareholders.

You can also explore other options, like leasing restaurant equipment instead of buying it, especially in the early months. This can allow you to keep your initial costs down while your business begins to earn a profit.

Getting the Right Location

When you’re choosing a location to buy or rent, you need to consider how easy it will be for people to find your restaurant. Make sure the area is appealing and, ideally, that people can see it from the street. You should also look into registering your restaurant on Google Maps so people can find it more easily.

You can’t just rent any space and hope to turn it into a working restaurant right away. Instead, make sure to look for restaurant spaces to lease, because they will already be set up with what you need, including a commercial kitchen and an eating area.

Once you have a place, make sure to deep clean it and set it up with appropriate furniture, wall art, and other decor. This is what gives your restaurant the atmosphere that might encourage people to stick around.

Hiring the Right Staff

Unfortunately, you can’t run a whole restaurant by yourself. Even smaller establishments need a chef and a waiter, as well as people to keep things running smoothly by washing dishes, cleaning tables, and helping customers to find seats. 

While you don’t need to find people with incredible skills and qualifications, it’s a good idea to be slightly selective about who you hire. The chefs are very important, as poor quality food will quickly turn away customers, but you also need to consider how the front-of-house staff welcome people.

People eat in restaurants for the experience as well as the food, so try to make sure your place has the full package so people will come back for more.

Finding Customers and Marketing

So far, we’ve looked at how to create a good restaurant experience, but what if you don’t have many customers to start with? It’s a good idea to focus on marketing to get as many people in the door as possible.

For example, when you first open the restaurant, make sure to have an open day with promotions to try to encourage people to discover your restaurant. An active social media account can also tell people what deals and specials are on, and it can also attract people from further away who want different experiences.

Social media, advertising, and word of mouth can all add up to turn an empty restaurant into a busy local favorite.